


Mac n' Cheese

by orphan_account



Series: The Adventures of Mark and Toby [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Anxiety, Are you happy with me Mason, Hearing issues, I suppose, M/M, My OCs, a world where parents agree to things they probs wouldnt in the real world, but like, hey looks its my own stuff, i have to tag that, its called mac and cheese because fuck you thats why, its not smut underage, its underage like minor adult relationship underage, lookit they're so cute, not too bad, sound sensitivity, theyre a bunch of cutie patooties
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-12
Updated: 2015-01-12
Packaged: 2018-03-07 05:48:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3163553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The fact remains that this house is toxic on your mind at the moment, and it would be best advised to vacate the area for a while. At least until your parents get their heads out of their asses for the day. Maybe they’ll realize that you’re gone, but you highly doubt that. Even when your parents are calm enough to notice the surroundings, they barely seek you out. Too busy gearing up for the next big screaming match, you suppose.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mac n' Cheese

Your name is Toby Neilson and you currently feel like you’re suffocating. Your head is pounding and your heart feels like it’s going to jump ship with your lungs.

Not that this feeling isn't normal, it just isn't very pleasant for you. This is deriving from the fact that your parents are, for the third time today, screaming at each other. This back and forth yelling has been happening for the last four of your seventeen years alive. It’s a wonderful feeling to wake up everyday to raised voices. It’s even better when you’re sensitive to loud noises.

The fact remains that this house is toxic on your mind at the moment, and it would be best advised to vacate the area for a while. At least until your parents get their heads out of their asses for the day. Maybe they’ll realize that you’re gone, but you highly doubt that. Even when your parents are calm enough to notice the surroundings, they barely seek you out. Too busy gearing up for the next big screaming match, you suppose.

Checking pockets proves enough bus fare for a trip halfway across town, which is exactly what you need. You’ll be able to bum some for the way back off of Mark when you decide to come back.

The suffocation makes moving difficult, but you manage to grab a pair of headphones and to scribble a note for your mother and father, just in case, before barreling out the door. The noise level isn’t much different, but it is less direct. You’ll have to listen to music to block out the bus noise, which sucks for you, but it’s better than panicking at the sound of a crying baby in your ear.

Mark won’t care if you show up out of the blue, him being your boyfriend and all, but you shoot him a message anyway.

The walk to the bus stop is accompanied with an insistent rhythm on your leg that goes with the music in your ear. Waiting seems to take forever, but the bus eventually arrives. You give the money and sit up close to the door, easier access to outside.

You make it through your “Quiet” music playlist twice before finally reaching the stop. It’s a little quieter on this side of the city, so you turn off your music and walk quickly up to his apartment complex. Inside the building gives blessed quiet relief. Mark lives on the fourth floor, and the elevator’s empty. The ding on the floor sends you wincing, but you make it to Mark’s and knock softly. He opens the door with a smile that drops to the floor the second he sees your face.

“Hey, Toby. Are you alr-“ you cut him off with an elongated shhh and a hand over his mouth.

Moving around him, you enter the apartment you’ve become very familiar with over the past few months. His arms find their way around your waist, and you lean back, closing your easy. He half drags, half leads you over to the couch, adjusting so that you can lay on him whilst sitting up. Mark’s finger’s lead light pressure up and down your sides and you fall into the most comfortable silence you've had in a while. So comfortable that your body stops choking and you fall half asleep on top of him. Until he starts talking.

“Toby.” His hands have pulled you even closer.

“Mmmn?” Your eyes remain closed. He kisses your forehead and you look up at him groggily.

“I can feel your ribs.”

“Nnnnnh.” You think for a second before continuing. “I can feel your ribs too. Look at that.” You poke his ribcage. “Ribs.”

“Toby.” Mark’s voice has a warning edge to it that you very much do not like. You press your hand to his mouth and close your eyes again.

“Mark, it’s fine. Just shhhh and let it be quiet.” He licks your hand and you shriek silently, wiping the spit on his jacket.

“I’m not just going to go ‘Shhhh’ and be quiet. I always let it go, Toby. And it never gets any better. I get that it’s loud at your house, but you have to eat some time.”

“I can’t.” Why can’t he just let it go? “It’s too loud and I can’t.”

“Why?” His voice sounds so concerned. It makes you feel sick, exactly like the noises at your home.

“The sound makes me sick. The yelling makes my head spin and I end up throwing it all up. So I’ll eat when they’re sleeping, but I wake up tired and uncomfortable. It’s not even worth it anymore.”

“Then let’s eat right now.” You make a noise of approval into his chest, moving slowly to sit up. Mark just picks you up instead, carrying you into the kitchen and setting you on the counter. You open a cupboard and pull out a box of mac n’ cheese. Mark groans.

“Really? Of all the things in the cupboards, you have to choose the one box of mac n’ cheese?”

“You’re the one that suggested eating. Don’t get all picky with my food choices.”

He makes a face, but takes the box any way. You grab a pot from a different cupboard and fill it halfway from the sink. He takes it and places it on the stove to boil. As you wait, you grab a granola bar and munch absent-mindedly on it. Mark hops up next to you and breaks a piece off of the bar. You lean on him and stare at the fridge, hoping the water will boil quickly. He takes your hand in his and you sigh, lacing your fingers together.

“You should really get out of that house. It’s not good for you.”

“Mark, they’re my parents. I can’t exactly move out whenever I want to. As distant as they are, they’d notice.”

“You could move in with me, though. And say it’s to get space. They might understand that.”

You squeeze his hand tightly. “I don’t know. I feel like that’s overreacting to a little thing.”

“If you’re not eating, it’s not overreacting.” The water’s boiling now. You reach around him and pour the noodles into the pot. “Toby I’m serious.”

You hop from the counter and grab a fork, mixing the noodles deeper into the water. After a few minutes, you flick a noodle at him. “Cooked?”

He munches on it for a second before nodding, grabbing a strainer and draining the noodles. You mix milk and the cheese packet into the pot. The mac n’ cheese mixes together and you pour Mark and yourself a bowl. It tastes like fireworks in your mouth, even if it is just a crappy box mix. It’s gone within the minute, and you scoop another bowl full. Mark’s still eating his first. Your stomach feels full for the first time in days. Mark grabs the hand with your spoon in it.

“Slow down, you’ll get sick.” You do your best to glare at him, but you can already feel the nausea knot in your stomach. Setting down the bowl feels like torture, but you haven’t eaten much and your stomach’s smaller because of it. He finishes his macaroni and pulls you into a hug.

“Toby, you need out. I don’t care what your parents say, this isn’t good for you.” You shake your head in the most miniscule way possible. Any big movements are a risk for triggering your stomach to seize up once again, and you definitely don’t want that. Even his voice is making your spin.

“Mark, can you just,” you wince at your own voice. “Just not talk for a little bit?”

He looks at you incredulously before realizing the expression on your face is sick. Then he nods and pulls you into his room. You crawl onto the bed with such grace, such expertise that you almost fall off twice. He tucks you under the covers and kisses you soft. “Just go to sleep for a bit. I’ll wake you up if I need to.”

You grab his arm as he attempts to walk away. You feel vulnerable being left alone, and you want him to stay. At least until you fall asleep. He gets your wordless message surprisingly well, lying down next to you and tucking you in between his arms. Your currently sleep drunk brain takes the filter of thought from off of your mouth.

“I don’t wanna go back home. I don’t want it to be loud anymore. I just want to sleep here forever and ever and ever.” He shushes you quietly.

“Get some sleep, Toby. It’ll be okay.”

You nod into his neck and, before you realize it, fall asleep. It’s dreamless but long.

You feel more groggy when you wake up, but at least your stomach feels settled. Something feels off about the pillow you’re sleeping on, though. You know you’re at Mark’s, but this is your pillow. The pillowcase is different. Sitting up, you catch a glimpse of some of your things haphazardly stuffed into a bag. You shuffle into the main room of the apartment, wondering if you’re dreaming. Mark’s on the couch, typing ridiculously fast. He finally got over his writer’s block. Finally. You were getting a little tired of having him whine all over you because he couldn’t think of ideas.

You lean over him on the back of the couch, looking at his words. He _really_ got over his writer’s block. The word count has gone up by about four thousand words. You wonder how long you were asleep. He looks back at you and smiles wide.

“You’re awake! I was wondering how long you were going to be asleep. If you noticed, I went to your house and got a couple things for you. Your parents were, in fact, not in the middle of an argument. They seemed concerned, but understood it pretty well. So now, you get to stay with me! Isn’t this great?”

You stare at him with your jaw dropped open. He managed to get your parents to agree on something. And it’s the one thing you’ve been wanting for months. You’re torn between laughing and crying about how amazing this is, so you settle for an awkward mixture of both. He’s still grinning at you, and you hit him lightly on the forehead, continuing your strange mix of laugh-crying.

“You huge dork.” He sticks his tongue out at you. You resist the urge to po- oh who are you kidding, you totally poke his tongue. Mark gives you a mock horrified look. You wrap your arms around his neck in a sort of backwards hug. He quits acting like a dweeb long enough to look up at you over his glasses.

“You want to stay here, right? I probably should have asked that before going and moving you out of your house.” You flick his nose.

“Quit that. Yes I want to stay here, you dweebo. You shouldn’t even have to ask anymore.”

He smiles again, and oh no you’ve got a ridiculously happy Mark everybody run. He very carefully moves his laptop out of the way before pulling you over and onto the couch next to him, then grabs the laptop back and starts typing again.

“How far did you get while I was sleeping?”

“Weeeeell, I finally figured out how to move the plot along to the part where Corbin re-hijacks the train, which I’ve been trying to figure out forever. And I don’t even know how I didn’t see it before. I just needed to have Marzi shove him into the intergalactic space troops so that he’d end up on the train anyway and be able to take it over from there. See? It was that simple the entire time.”

You’re not sure you fully understand how that constitutes as “easy”, but whatever.

“You’re going to let me read it, right?”

“Duh. You just have to let me get over this writing spurt and then it’s yours.”

It’s been a while since the last installment of his book. You’ve waited as patiently as you could, but a month long writer’s block gets boring after a while. He just looks so excited about this bit. You know it’s been eating at him, wondering how he’d get to the exciting part. So needless to say, you’re eager to read it.

“And lucky for you, mister Marky Mark, now I can read it whenever you want me to. That is, when I’m not at school. But any other time is cool.” He kisses your cheek. You make a face.

“I’m still going to make you do homework. This does not equal an out on that.”

“Dude, quit acting like a dad.” He looks disgusted that you’ve even said the idea.

“I’m not that old!” You giggle. “No really don’t even say that! You’re making twenty four sound creepy!”

This sends you into full on laughter, eyes wetting under the sheer hilarity of this situation. Mark sighs in defeat before laughing with you. It gets to the point where nothing’s funny anymore but laughing feels like the most comfortable thing to do. He leans his head on your shoulder, still snickering slightly. You caress his face with one hand, lacing his fingers in yours with the other.

“I’m glad you got over your writer’s block. As annoying as your whining was, I was getting worried you weren’t going to finish it.”

He scoffs. “Of course I’m finishing it.” You roll your eyes at his tone. “I can’t just abandon Corbin and Marzi like that.”

“I’m trying to show concern, dumb butt.”

“Oh.” He thinks for a second. “Sorry about that then.”

A kiss is pressed to his nose. Your way of telling him it’s alright. He snuggles deeper into your neck and begins typing again. You watch the screen, lulled by the tapping of the keys. The silence is a comfortable one from both ends.

**Author's Note:**

> These are the OCs, Mark and Toby  
> theyre actually adorable and need hugs at all times  
> ive been debating putting my original stuff up and ive finally done it  
> Mason are you happy now  
> (If i can't put a description of the series, then lets go. Toby's 17. Mark is 24. I get that age gaps are a cheap crutch yadda yadda blah blah blah but i like them so we're going with it. take it or leave it guys. Take it. Or leave it.  
> But continuing, Mark's an author and Toby's a highschool student, if that wasn't evident by his age. Toby has severe hearing sensitivity, like, loud noises make him throw up bad. Mark has family issues that stem from his dad drinking a lot when he was a kid and expecting perfection from him. He hides his perfection heavy side with a lot of cheery cheer so yes.)


End file.
